Schedule of Events

Standards have been at the foundation of tech industry growth since the 1960’s – TCP/IP, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HTML, PDF, LTE, and 5G facilitate adoption and innovation across industries and society. Standards enable disparate suppliers and users to jump to the next level of performance with interoperability and functional agility within an ecosystem. But the process can be counter intuitive: Why should an organization work with its competitors to create standardization that benefits everyone in the industry?

The equipment finance industry today is short on standards. Lessors often use their own data type definitions and different terms for the same variable. Software providers struggle with customization; helping each customer “do it their way” in proprietary architectures. Most lease accounting systems have “custom fields” so that customers can define their own variables but, in the process, run the risk of disconnecting themselves from future upgrades of the software. The industry has a plethora of forms for everything from credit applications and funding descriptions making everything from underwriting to funding inefficient. Standards could help improve equipment finance software interoperability, operational agility, innovation, and capital markets efficiency across the digital ecosystem of the industry today.

In this panel discussion, we’ll discuss the opportunities for the Equipment Finance industry to implement and leverage standards and open platforms to increase competitiveness and growth. We will discuss where in financing workflow standards will have the most immediate impact and where borrowers will benefit the most from standards-based experiences.

Jeffrey Bilbrey
Leasepath

Tawnya Stone, CLFP
GreatAmerica Financial Services

Alistair Canal
Syndifi

Scott Nelson
Tamarack

Eldon Richards
Solifi

Denis Stypulkoski
Reimagine Advisors

Supported by: Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation

The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation (ELFF) has funded a study to conduct research and provide a report on the latest financial technologies to enable its members to better achieve digitization and create an overall amazing digital experience. With such a wide abundance of specialized apps, software programs, and information services, the task of navigating, evaluating, and implementing these solutions can be both foreign and daunting for many industry leaders.

This session is the results of this 4-month ELFF study and compilation of these 3rd party services. The proliferation of specialized applications, software, and information services within the equipment leasing and finance industry has brought about a digital revolution. Businesses that once relied on large, complex, and often custom software and data storage systems have begun transitioning into a new world of digital applications, cloud-based platforms, and APIs.

In 2022, the financial space is saturated with thousands of digital solutions and fintech companies. The rise of these tools and services is fueling the transformation of traditional equipment finance companies into technological leaders and redefining the frontier of what it means to be an equipment finance company in the 21st century. Application Programing Interfaces, or APIs, have existed for decades. However, it wasn’t until the internet and the online financial services space had matured in the early 2010s that APIs truly became a game changer in the way finance companies operate. APIs created a standard language for systems to communicate with each other. E.g., A secretary of state search that may have required a lengthy manual research process in the past is now able to be automated and returned within seconds by using an API.

Today’s successful fintechs are not building APIs from scratch; they are orchestrating independent APIs into a cohesive strategy. The difficult task of building a web of APIs that work together in synchrony is one of the challenges that this session is addressing. With the right tools in place, any lessor or lender can become their own fintech.

The democratization of information technology has resulted in the advent of more “micro- services,” or highly specialized tools adept in performing a specific task. This is largely due to the fact that information is now more readily accessible than ever, and 3rd parties can now build these integrations directly into their systems. Cloud-based platforms such as AWS, Azure, and Salesforce provide a digital housing ground for the culmination of these APIs and services. The window of opportunity for any business to utilize these technologies is bigger today than it ever has been before. Why is this all important? The answer lies within the lending user experience. A user could be a lender, a broker, a borrower, or a vendor. Every stage in the lending lifecycle has a set of stakeholders that use financial systems daily. Organizations that efficiently utilize APIs, micro-services, and other digital solutions are experiencing efficiencies that drive increased profits and revenue, distinguish themselves from competitors, and create a user experience that is changing the industry.

The audience will walk away with actionable and relevant 3rd party technology services. They will be presented with how other industries are utilizing these technologies for fraud, credit, and other important areas. This is NOT a high level discussion, but rather very specific concrete 3rd party services that can be used to transform how the ELFA members do business. This will be an objective view into the services available (not focused on any specific software provider or platform) and what specific opportunities they create or problems they solve.

Speakers:

Kristian Dolan, CLFP, Moderator
Northteq

Eli Sethre
Channel

Thomas Ware
Tom Ware Advisory Services, LLC